House and home insurance are designed to help us recover from losses to our house or home due to perils such as tornadoes, lightning, earthquakes, fires, and more. This insurance can cover losses to the home, its contents, liability for accidents in the house, living expenses while your house is being repaired, etc.

How much does home owners insurance cost? It depends on how much it would cost to replace the house. Other factors include the perils that the insurance company feels that your house is exposed to. This may be hurricanes, floods, fire, and more.

It is important to know that, as a homeowner, flood and earthquake insurance are not part of a standard policy, but must be bought in addition to the standard policy.

Some ways of decreasing the cost of insurance for your home may include:
* Raising your deductible
* Adding smoke detectors
* Adding deadbolts to doors
* Adding a security system
* Improving your credit score
* Checking with your insurance company to see what options they have for lowering your rates, including discounts for having multiple policies (such as homeowners and vehicle insurance) or being a long time customer.

Some resources on house insurance, property protection, and recovery after a loss include:
12 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
National Flood Insurance Program on floodsmart.gov
Hurricane Preparation on floodsmart.gov
Recovering from a Hurricane on floodsmart.gov
Insurance - Homeowners and Renters on consumeraction.gov

There is current discussion on insurance companies being able to raise premiums or to even refuse to provide coverage on the basis of the breed of a dog owned by a household. More at Homeowners' Insurance Resource Center on akc.org.

Be sure to review your homeowner's policy on a regular basis to be sure that you are fully covered for those events which may have an impact on the safety of your house.

Carefully review policies before you sign for them since they may not only cost a lot of money up front, but they may also cost you if you don't have the coverage you thought you had after a catastrophe hits your house.

House and Home Insurance